For Christmas we decided we would take the kids to Disney World...we hit the road after opening presents on Christmas day! They were so excited, but they didn't expect such a long drive. We stopped over night in Savanah, GA. I think the made things better, they were really excited about sleeping in a hotel. Traveling on Christmas day is a bit challenging, not many places were open to eat for lunch and dinner, so our "Christmas dinner" was going through the drive thru at McDonalds....and it was the worst service I had ever had at McDonalds. But at the time we decided to stop, we had very few choices. We had hoped to find a truck stop and at least get the $9.99 steak special, but we didn't see any. We stopped early enough that the kids were able to run around the room for a few hours before we went to sleep. We got up early the next morning for the 6 hour drive to Disney. Oh were they excited now. I must say pulling into the whole Disney resort area felt like a dream come true. It kinda felt like we were in a whole seperate world the whole week.
After our day at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to the Port Orleans Resort for dinner. Such a wonderful dinner! Much better experience then the night before. Kids were so happy during dinner that mommy & daddy were able to enjoy an adult beverage and yummy desert!
DAY 4:
Time to head home...but first we stop in Appomattox for another family Christmas. I am writing this blog two months later and the kids are still talking about the trip to Disney and really want to go back. We hope to make this a semi-regular trip. Maybe every 2-3 years.
We stayed at the Disney Carribean Resort! BEAUTIFUL & TROPICAL!
After we checked in and semi-unpacked, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. We didn't have to drive at all while we were at the resort, we took the resort shuttles everywhere, which seemed like a special treat to the kids (no car seats).
Just after we walked through the gates at Magic Kingdom a parade began...how excited!
After we checked in and semi-unpacked, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. We didn't have to drive at all while we were at the resort, we took the resort shuttles everywhere, which seemed like a special treat to the kids (no car seats).
Just after we walked through the gates at Magic Kingdom a parade began...how excited!
We watched the parade and danced in the streets...so much fun. The only downfall to today's visit was the HUGE crowds. We honestly didn't think it would be this crowded, but we were ok with it. It took us that day to figure out what and how things worked at Disney. For example, we had the meal plan (our meals were all prepaid so we could eat any place throughout ever park and every resort). It was lunch time, so after the parade we found a place to eat, probably in the most crowded area of the park. The one thing I kept saying good things about was the food service at the parks. Having been to alot of amusement parks, I was expecting a horrible experience. But they know how it's done! Even though the place was extremely crowded, we walked in, decided on our food...got our food and were seated right away. The staff was SO friendly and helpful....and the food was pretty good too!
After lunch we began our journey through the park...in amazement over the long lines. We kept seeing signs about fast pass, but had no clue what that meant. I think we ended up only riding 2 rides that day, saw many stage & street preformances. Later we headed back to the room had dinner at our resort (which didn't go to well with cranky kids, it was a late dinner). We settled into our room and found out all the tricks to the parks. We were happy at that point.
DAY 2:
Today we went to the Animal Kingdom. Pretty cool places, lots to see but not much to ride, but again we were happy. There was a short rain storm but we managed to get into a bird show.
Today we went to the Animal Kingdom. Pretty cool places, lots to see but not much to ride, but again we were happy. There was a short rain storm but we managed to get into a bird show.
After our day at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to the Port Orleans Resort for dinner. Such a wonderful dinner! Much better experience then the night before. Kids were so happy during dinner that mommy & daddy were able to enjoy an adult beverage and yummy desert!
DAY 3:
Today we went back to Magic Kingdom...we got up really early (ate breakfast in the room, I packed plenty). We just wanted to get there early and get our fast passes so we could ride all that we wanted. I do believe we got to ride everything that the kids wanted. It was a blast!! But this ended up being the longest day of all. I had planned to have dinner at Downtown Disney...orginally thought we would be done after dinner and just head back to the hotel, but there was one more ride that the kids just had to ride and our fast pass was scheduled for close to 9pm. We just couldn't say no to them...even though mommy & daddy were exhausted. Poor Chad was carrying at least one of the boys at all times...mainly on his shoulders. We discovered how old we were now...but kept on going. Which worked out just fine, we were able to catch the night time electric parade...one thing we both remember from our childhood visit, still looked the same too.
DAY 4:
Last day at Disney. But we didn't slow down one bit! Today we got up early again but headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios for a character breakfast. This was a breakfast buffet where some disney characters walked around to visit all the kids, pose for pictures and sign autographs. Also adding some dancing and singing entertainmet which all the kids were able to join them. A good time was had by all of us. There wasn't much rides at hollywood studios, more like shows. Or at least we weren't able to get on the rides because we didn't get fast passes or the lines where too long. But we still had fun at the shows and getting to meet some of our favorite characters. We saw the guys from Monsters Inc. (Jack was a bit scared of them), Lightening McQueen and Tow Mater (Tyler was in heaven!). OH, and at breakfast we saw Handy Mandy, June from Little Eintstein, Special Agent OSO, Jake from the Neverland Pirates.
Well during this whole trip the kids really wanted to swim in the pool at the hotel, but the weather wasn't as warm as we had hoped, today was probably the warmest day. So we left the park early to get in at least one hour at the pool. The water was fine as long as you stayed completely under water. Getting out to get our towels was torture! We decided that was going to be our day, so we thought....we went to the food court for a early dinner (Jack passed out at the table) meanwhile, I felt a little bad about not being able to finish up at Hollywood Studios. We decided we would go back to the room, pack a litle and then go back to the park. That was a good decision. There was a part of the park that we saw during the day that looked a little strange to us, it was set up like some streets in a city, like New York, but the buildings looked strange. Turned out that they were covered with lights and they changed with the music...very cool! Plus we didn't get to see Phineas & Ferb and we (meaning me) wanted to go see them!
Time to head home...but first we stop in Appomattox for another family Christmas. I am writing this blog two months later and the kids are still talking about the trip to Disney and really want to go back. We hope to make this a semi-regular trip. Maybe every 2-3 years.
